If we thought the previous nights sleep was bad, it was nothing like the one we had last night. The wind was much stronger, more erratic, more explosive & was a constant deterant from sleep. It started to really pick up momentum after 10pm & by 12am, we had both been awake for some time watching the tent walls attempt to collapse on us & listening to the chaos created outside.
I'm really genuinely surprised the tent poles didn't snap.
When the 5am alarm went off I barely heard it over the noise of the wind.
It was a miserable morning in the cold darkness trying to avoid the wind & sand while putting down the tents. Yesterday Tom had tried to reinforce the back of our tent by tying it to the wooden fence support, overnight this had been pulled free of the ground.
As soon as we got our bags out of the tent & it was weightless, it tried to get airborne despite the 4 pegs at the corners. We battled & with the help of Julian & Victor, eventually laid it down, rolled it up & jammed it into the bag. Everyone needed 3 or 4 people to help tame the tents.
While carrying my bag over to the truck in the dark, my ankle attempted to twist inside my boot & I fell down hard on my knees before coping a face full of sand..
Breakfast was a small & sad affair. Tom made coffee, that the wind attempted to blow out of the cups & we shared a bowl of yogurt & muesli with a crunchy sprinkle of sand on top.
Definitely not a great start to the day!
I'm really genuinely surprised the tent poles didn't snap.
When the 5am alarm went off I barely heard it over the noise of the wind.
It was a miserable morning in the cold darkness trying to avoid the wind & sand while putting down the tents. Yesterday Tom had tried to reinforce the back of our tent by tying it to the wooden fence support, overnight this had been pulled free of the ground.
As soon as we got our bags out of the tent & it was weightless, it tried to get airborne despite the 4 pegs at the corners. We battled & with the help of Julian & Victor, eventually laid it down, rolled it up & jammed it into the bag. Everyone needed 3 or 4 people to help tame the tents.
While carrying my bag over to the truck in the dark, my ankle attempted to twist inside my boot & I fell down hard on my knees before coping a face full of sand..
Breakfast was a small & sad affair. Tom made coffee, that the wind attempted to blow out of the cups & we shared a bowl of yogurt & muesli with a crunchy sprinkle of sand on top.
Definitely not a great start to the day!
We couldn't wait to get in the truck & be gone from the demon wind. It was our last full day in Namibia if we get past the border, if not it will be our last full day on tour.
Everyone was exhausted from lack of sleep & the morning passed by while we were all sleeping on the truck.
At 11.15am the truck stopped in a small town called Bethanie. We all piled into the coffee shop for coffee & a slice of carrot cake. The cake greatly improved our day!
Once back on the bus & awake. I noticed the scenery looks less desert like. There is less sand, no dunes or mountains on the horizon. Instead there is rocks, dirt & lots of green shrubs & tufts of grass with an occasional tree. There are lots of fences & boundary lines. We see farming land with sheep, goats & the occasional paddock of cows.
We arrive at our campsite at 3:30pm & we have 30 minutes to put up our tent before we need to be ready to go to fish river canyon. As Tom & I are setting up, we can't help but wonder if this will be our last night in the tent & with the ATC tour. Tomorrow is feeling very uncertain.
At 11.15am the truck stopped in a small town called Bethanie. We all piled into the coffee shop for coffee & a slice of carrot cake. The cake greatly improved our day!
Once back on the bus & awake. I noticed the scenery looks less desert like. There is less sand, no dunes or mountains on the horizon. Instead there is rocks, dirt & lots of green shrubs & tufts of grass with an occasional tree. There are lots of fences & boundary lines. We see farming land with sheep, goats & the occasional paddock of cows.
We arrive at our campsite at 3:30pm & we have 30 minutes to put up our tent before we need to be ready to go to fish river canyon. As Tom & I are setting up, we can't help but wonder if this will be our last night in the tent & with the ATC tour. Tomorrow is feeling very uncertain.
Fish river Canyon is arguably the 2nd biggest canyon in the world, after Arizona's Grand Canyon. It boasts a length of 161km's, a width of 27km's & a maximum depth of 550metres.
It's pretty spectacular & hard to believe it's still one of Africa's least visited natural attractions. The sheer size & its geological history starting 1,800 million years ago & creation history as the fish river carved through only 50 million years ago is hard to imagine.
The world is truly, a beautiful place. Nature has so much beauty to offer us & the Namib Desert has no problem showing it off.
We walk approximately 3 kilometres around the edge of the Canyon where it is safe to do so & finish at a view point to see the sun set. The sun set is beautiful, but disappears below the mountains & before the colours can really be displayed.
While watching the sun set, Tom & I share some antipasto & crackers with Simon & Leah.
We are chatting & watching some nearby birds that Simon is convinced are evil because of their bright orange eyes. All of a sudden one of them flies down and lands on my head. At first I think it is an accident & at any moment it will spook & fly off, but than I realise it want's some of my biscuit & is braver than it looks!
It accepts small pieces of biscuit directly out of my hand, which encourages the others to fly down. At one point I have three on my head & many circling around me.
It's very comical & Tom can't stop laughing. He eventually has the stamina to take some photos while saying "it would only happen to me".
Shortly after this the sun goes down & the temperature drops. My little bird friends disappeared after I ran out of food to give them.
We all pile back into the truck & head back to camp for a big, peaceful, wind-free nights sleep!
- Alli
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